Is This The Reason You Can’t Sleep At Night?

Remember all those nights when you couldn’t sleep and kept scrolling on your phone for hours? Most of us delay checking our phones throughout the day so that finally, before going to bed, we can reply to all those unread messages. However, did it ever occur to you that checking your phone might the reason you can’t sleep at night?

Light, in general, can keep you awake. So what’s different about the light emitted from your phone screen? And more importantly, why does it keep you awake at night ridding you of the sleep you dream about? It is due to something called Blue Light. For this to make sense, we must first understand what Blue Light is? It is a range of the visible light spectrum. The wavelength primarily lies between 400-495nm. Due to its short wavelength, blue light is a high energy visible light.

This chart depicts where blue light lies in the spectrum of light.

How does blue light keep you up at night?

First off, our eyes are not very good at blocking blue light. The human eye can prevent UV rays from reaching the retina, but the same rule doesn’t apply to light in the visible region. A major drawback is that blue light is everywhere. How does this affect our sleep?

To begin with, let’s familiarise ourselves with some terms. We often use the word ”body clock”. We have heard that term from our parents every time we put our sleep away haven’t we? What is this and how does it work? In simple terms, a biological process called circadian rhythm is responsible for this. The circadian rhythm can be held accountable for the day to day activities that are carried out by us. Based on the amount of light that enters our body, simple processes like the generation of sleep hormones are regulated. There are two kinds of hormones in the body: cortisol (helps us stay awake) and melatonin (helps us sleep). Blue light has the immense power of messing up your melatonin cycle.

The Conclusion?

One, you could not check any device with a screen two hours before bedtime. But, we all know that isn’t happening. The feeling of regret and want for more sleep in the morning is a too familiar a feeling. Therefore, we have something that could interest you – blue light blocking glasses. It gives you the best of both worlds at reasonable comfort. Pick the right one for you here. They don’t cost a lot so you could buy one and try and see if it works. You should see signs of improved sleep and mood.